{
  "id": "2025-01-15-university-of-iowa-extreme-cold-warning",
  "slug": "university-of-iowa-extreme-cold-warning-2025-01-15",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Iowa",
    "shortName": "Iowa",
    "state": "IA",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Hawk Alert",
    "enrollment": 31000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-01-15",
    "endDate": "2025-01-21",
    "type": "winter-storm",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Extreme cold with wind chills near -35 moved most classes online",
    "headlinePublic": "Extreme cold with wind chills near -35 moved most classes online",
    "summary": "During the mid-January 2025 cold period, the University of Iowa issued a [Hawk Alert for an Extreme Cold Warning through noon Tuesday, Jan. 21](https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-nws-extreme-cold-warning-effect-midnight-through-noon-tuesday-jan-21-30-wind-chill-dress) with wind chills as low as -30. Related winter-weather messages elsewhere in this file could not be date-matched to January 2025 on the Hawk Alert Archive and remain unconfirmed.",
    "outcome": "The Extreme Cold Warning expired with a Cold Weather Advisory remaining into Jan. 22. No campus-wide operations change was announced in the confirmed Jan. 21 Hawk Alert sequence. Other unconfirmed messages in this file may reflect different winter events and should not be cited as January 2025 SMS."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Wednesday afternoon, January 15, 2025 CST",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-winter-storm-warning-6pm-wed-6am-sat-hazards-include-not-limited-wind-chill-low-35",
      "sourceDescription": "Official university page",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Wednesday evening, January 15, 2025 CST",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-university-adjusting-classroom-instruction-116-due-extreme-temperatures-forecasted-our",
      "sourceDescription": "Official university page",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Late evening, January 20 or early morning, January 21, 2025 CST",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "HAWK ALERT: NWS Extreme Cold Warning in effect midnight through noon Tuesday, Jan. 21. -30 wind chill. Dress warm to protect yourself. More: emergency.uiowa.edu",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-nws-extreme-cold-warning-effect-midnight-through-noon-tuesday-jan-21-30-wind-chill-dress",
      "sourceDescription": "University of Iowa Hawk Alert Archive (page title = full SMS)",
      "annotations": [
        "Character-perfect match to Hawk Alert Archive title 01/20/2025 9:52 PM for Extreme Cold Warning through noon Jan. 21.",
        "Only alert in this case file that matches an archive entry inside the case incident date window (2025-01-15 to 2025-01-21)."
      ],
      "characterCount": 160
    }
  ],
  "context": "The University of Iowa is a [public R1 doctoral institution](https://www.uiowa.edu/) in Iowa City, with about 31,000 students. On the evening of January 20, 2025, UI published a Hawk Alert for an [NWS Extreme Cold Warning](https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-nws-extreme-cold-warning-effect-midnight-through-noon-tuesday-jan-21-30-wind-chill-dress) in effect midnight through noon Tuesday, Jan. 21, with wind chills as low as -30. The official archive title is the full SMS text. Two other messages previously attached to this case match archive entries from December 2022 and January 2024 and have been demoted. Iowa's permanent Hawk Alert archive at emergency.uiowa.edu provides dated public titles for recovery.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Only the Jan. 21 Extreme Cold Warning Hawk Alert is character-perfect confirmed against the official archive for this case window",
    "Two previously confirmed alerts in this file were demoted after archive dates showed they belong to 2022 and 2024 events",
    "Iowa's Hawk Alert Archive titles reproduce full SMS text and must be matched by incident date, not only by wording similarity"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "HAWK ALERT: Winter Storm Warning 6PM Wed-6AM Sat (UI Emergency Updates)",
      "url": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-winter-storm-warning-6pm-wed-6am-sat-hazards-include-not-limited-wind-chill-low-35",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hawk Alert: University adjusting classroom instruction on 1/16 (UI Emergency Updates)",
      "url": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-university-adjusting-classroom-instruction-116-due-extreme-temperatures-forecasted-our",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "HAWK ALERT: NWS Extreme Cold Warning in effect midnight through noon Tuesday, Jan. 21 (UI Emergency Updates)",
      "url": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-nws-extreme-cold-warning-effect-midnight-through-noon-tuesday-jan-21-30-wind-chill-dress",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Winter Weather Safety Reminders (UI Campus Safety)",
      "url": "https://safety.uiowa.edu/news/2025/02/winter-weather-safety-reminders",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Reminder: Preparing for Extreme Weather (UI Campus Safety)",
      "url": "https://safety.uiowa.edu/news/2024/11/reminder-preparing-extreme-weather",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hawk Alert (UI Department of Public Safety)",
      "url": "https://police.uiowa.edu/emergency-preparedness/hawk-alert",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "winter-storm",
    "extreme-cold",
    "iowa",
    "public-r1",
    "hawk-alert",
    "wind-chill",
    "verbatim",
    "frostbite",
    "zoom-classes"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-19",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}